black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

The tree of research must be fed from time to time with the blood of bean-counters, for it is its natural manure.

Alan Kay

This tends to result in very dumbed-down products that are easy to get started on, but are generally worthless and/or debilitating.
ALAN KAY

Debilitation Dumb Easy General Product Result Tend Worthless
They don’t like the idea of having different points of view.
ALAN KAY

Different Ide Like Point View
The flip side of the coin was that even good programmers and language designers tended to do terrible extensions when they were in the heat of programming, because design is something that is best done slowly and carefully.
ALAN KAY

Best Careful Coin Designer Even Extension Flip Good Heat Language Programme Side Tend Terrible
Every technology really needs to be shipped with a special manual – not how to use it but why, when, and for what.
ALAN KAY

Every Technology How Manual Need Ship Special Use
Artificial intelligence is what we don’t know how to do yet
ALAN KAY

Artificial Don't Know Intelligence Yet
The result is – document destruction – we’re really not going to be able to prove beyond a truth the negatives and some of the positive conclusions that we’re going to come to.
ALAN KAY

Able Beyond Come Conclusion Destruction Document Negative Positive Prove Result
In our society we have hard nerds and soft nerds.
ALAN KAY

Hard Nerd Society Soft
In a well functioning world, tools and agents are complementary.
ALAN KAY

Agent Complementary Function World Tool Well
People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.
ALAN KAY

Hardware Old People Really Serious Software
Art also has this element. Our job is to remind us that there are more contexts than the one that we’re in – the one that we think is reality.
ALAN KAY

Context Element Job More One Really Remind Think
In computers, every ‘new explosion’ was set off by a software product that allowed users to program differently.
ALAN KAY

Allow Computer Differently Explosion Off Product Program Set Software Under
If you’re utopian, you’re never satisfied.
ALAN KAY

Country never Utopian
And to the extent that we do not violate any known laws of the universe, we can probably make it work the way that we want to.
ALAN KAY

Extent Known Probably Universe Violate Way
The hard nerds are the ones who used to have the slide rules at their belt; now they have calculators.
ALAN KAY

Belt Calculator Hard Nerd One Rule Slide Use
There’s an element of surprise, and especially in science, there is often laughter that goes along with the “Aha.”
ALAN KAY

Along Element Especial Go Laughter Often Science Surprise
So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world.
ALAN KAY

Eight End Five Inch iPhone Presentation ule World

The tree of research must be fed from time to time with the blood of bean-counters, for it is its natural manure.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

The tree of research must be fed from time to time with the blood of bean-counters, for it is its natural manure.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Alan Kay Quotes